QUANTUMLEAGUE
Every time you die, you’ll be beside yourself
I’M FORCED TO THINK IN INCREASINGLY COMPLEX WAYS AS THE ROUND GOES ON
We’ve all been there. Playing an FPS online, planning some harmless violence, when bam! You’re killed by an unseen sniper. If only there was a way to go back in time, aware of your opponent’s location and actions, to turn the tables. Well, now there is.
Probably the easiest (and least exciting) way to explain the basic premise of QuantumLeague, is in terms of bots. You play for 18 seconds, then you’re returned to the starting point. You then play for another 18 seconds, this time alongside a bot which repeats your previous actions. You’re then returned to the starting point again, to play for a final 18 seconds, now alongside two bots (one repeating your actions from the first turn, one repeating your actions from the second). Still with me? Good— because it gets a lot more complicated.
Before I get to the stuff with the potential to wring your brain like a dishcloth full of hot takes, I’ll warm up with the straightforward elements. In the beta version I play, there are just three maps and two game modes. As there will only ever be two or four human players in a match (1v1 or 2v2 is available), the maps are tiny. The game modes are essentially deathmatch and king of the hill under different names, and therefore immediately easy to understand.
I’m surprised to find just five weapons to choose from, but this is more than enough variety. If I choose to cower behind cover until the last few seconds when capturing a point, I’ll carry a shotgun for close encounters; for taking people out at a distance, I’ll take the laser or rifle. If I’m unsure of my opponent’s tactics, SMG all the way (plus, in a nod to more traditional FPS elements, I always have a pistol in reserve). The grenade launcher, meanwhile, is what I spitefully use on the final turn if I don’t feel I have a chance of winning. There’s no better combo than vindictiveness and explosives.
CLONE RANGER
If you encounter one too many bullets to the face and die, you are not only advised, but encouraged to keep on playing. Upon death, you become a ghost invisible to your opponent, and each arena has a few revive orbs scattered about to get you back into the game. However, these are not the only reason you’re encouraged to keep going after death. They’re not even the main reason.
While dead (or as the game has it, in ‘desync’), you are not only advised, but encouraged to keep on playing. In one deathmatch, while in invisible and harlmess ghost form, I nab a revive orb and resurrect. This allows me to avenge myself, killing my would-be assassin from behind. I laugh out loud when, moments later, the words “Wait, what” appear in the chat. In another match, I make it to the capture point before time runs out—but I am by this point in a state of desync. On the next turn, I kill the enemy bot before it has a chance to kill my own, and so my team scores. QuantumLeague is crammed full of hugely satisfying ways to turn the tables like this.
I’m forced to think in increasingly complex ways as the round goes on. During my first turn in a capture match, I know rushing to the point is unwise, as if I die in the first few seconds that won’t leave me enough time to save myself in the next turn. If I die or score, I need to be aware of the enemy’s actions in the next turn. What would I do in that situation?
This is all much easier to understand in play than it is to explain. The clone and time paradox mechanics force you to think, plan and react in a way that feels completely brand new to shooters. All three of me love it.